Muffler Man

This giant farmer lives in the front yard of a private home a few miles from me, actually not far from yesterday's painted silo.  He was there when we moved here over 30 years ago.  Everybody around here knows he's there but I haven't run across anyone who knows his history.  These giants, portraying many different characters, can be found in random places (like this) and in front of businesses all around the USA.  I've pasted a short history of them from Wikipedia below:

Muffler Men (or Muffler Man) are large molded fiberglass sculptures that are placed as advertising icons, roadside attractions or for decorative purposes, predominantly in the United States. Standing approximately 18–25 feet tall, the first figure was a Paul Bunyan character designed to hold an ax.  Derivatives of that figure were widely used to hold full-sized car mufflers, tires, or other items promoting various roadside businesses.
International Fiberglass of Venice, California constructed most Muffler Men. Two books have been devoted to the distinctive roadside figures and the July 2012 issue of AAA New Mexico Journey devoted its front cover to their 50th anniversary.
While the fiberglass figures are no longer manufactured, many still exist throughout the US with a few in Canada. At least four remain on U.S. Route 66.